Transport system for castings including a swingable, perforated transport bucket

ABSTRACT

Swingable transport buckets are supported on a track; the buckets have a bottom wall which is perforated and a catch tray is located beneath the bottom wall spaced therefrom to catch sand and the like from the castings as they are being transported in the buckets. The front lip of the bucket extends beyond the front lip of the catch tray so that, upon tipping of the bucket at a discharge station, the castings will fall out of the bucket at a point remote from the sand falling off the tray. The discharge station is formed with inclined surfaces, extending in different directions, to separate the sand and the castings.

United States Patent [191 Biihrer [54] TRANSPORT SYSTEM FOR CASTINGSINCLUDING A SWINGABLE, PERFORATED TRANSPORT BUCKET [75] inventor: ErwinBiihrer, Schaffhausen, Switzeriand [73] Assignee: Georg FischerAktiengesellschait,

Schaffhauser, Switzerland [22] Filed: Sept. 29, 1970 [21] Appi. No.:76,477

[30] Foreign Application Priority Date Oct. 6, 1969 Switzerland..i497s/s9 52 U.S. Cl. ..209/238, 209/259, 209/260 51 Int. Cl..B07bl/28,B07b1/46 [58] Field of Search ..209/260, 251, 274, 419, 393P, 209/313,257,421,259,4l8,494, 11,255, 238; 222/108, 160, 166, 455;34/67 Robbins ..209/393 X 111 enemas 51 Apr. 3, 19 73 3,395,798 8/1968Erickson ..209/421 1,685,823 10/1928 Mayer ..209/2 60 1,476,134 12/1923Beardsley 222/ 160 2,814,388 11/1957 Fontein ..209/251 FOREIGN PATENTSOR APPLICATIONS 16,941 2/ 1 887 Great Britain ..209/260 571,585 5/1924France ..209/260 346,658 7/ 1960 Switzerland ..222/166 485,090 2/1951Italy ..222/ 166 Primary Examiner-Tim R. Miles Assistant Examiner-RobertHalper Attorney-Flynn & Frishauf [5 7] ABSTRACT Swingable transportbuckets are supported on a track; the buckets have a bottom wall whichis perforated and a catch tray is located beneath the bottom wall spacedtherefrom to catch sand and the like from the castings as they are beingtransported in the buckets. The front lip of the bucket extends beyondthe front lip of the catch tray so that,;upon tipping of the bucket at adischarge station, the castings will fall out of the bucket at a pointremote from the sand falling off the tray. The discharge station isformed with inclined surfaces, extending in different directions, toseparate the sand and the castings.

5 Claims, 2 Drawing Figures PATENTEDAPR3 L975 3 724 S59 SHEET 1 0F 2Fig. 1

PATENTEDAFM I975 3,724,659

sum 2 UF 2 Fig. 2

TRANSPORT SYSTEM FOR CASTINGS INCLUDING A SWINGABLE, PERFORATEDTRANSPORT BUCKET The present invention relates to a transport system forcastings and more particularly to a transport system in which castingsare placed in transport buckets running along an endless track andpassing loading and unloading stations.

Conveyors using swing buckets, or rocker buckets, as known and used totransport castings, usually provide for a track, or a chain, whichpasses loading and unloading stations at which the buckets areautomatically loaded and unloaded. Foundry sand, and core and form sandwhich may adhere to the castings collects in the buckets. Sand elementsand particles are unloaded togetherwith the castings at the unloadingstation. If the castings are unloaded into containers, more and moresand will eventually collect in the containers. Castings which areloaded into the rocker buckets are usually hot and the time taken forpassage of the castings within the bucket is often insuff-icient toprovide for adequate cooling of the castings. Additional time is thusrequired to cool the castings to a degree permitting further handling ormachining.

It is an object of the present invention to improve the transportsystems forcastings to quickly separate sand from castings and increasethe cooling rate.

SUBJECT MATTER OF THE PRESENT INVENTION Briefly, the transport bucketsare formed with a perforated bottom wall to I permit air circulationtherethr ough, while letting sand fall through the openings thereof. Acatch tray is located beneath the bucket, spaced therefrom, and having afront edge which is recessed with respect to the discharge edge of thebucket itself. When the bucket is tipped, at unloading, the sandcollecting in the tray will be discharged at the place different fromthe discharge point of the castings themselves. In accordance with afeature of the invention, the discharge station is formed witn inclinedslide surfaces, extending in angled directions,-oneslide surfacereceiving the castings and the other being located to receive the sandfrom the tray.

The invention will be described by way of example with reference to theaccompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a rocker basket on the transportsystem, illustrating, in solid line position the bucket in the transportposition and in chain-dotted lines, the bucket in the dischargeposition; and

FIG. 2 is a partial front view of the rocker bucket, on the transportsystem, in its transport position.

Buckets 1 are supported on a bail 4 which connects to a rollerarrangement 2 running on a track 3, as known in the art. Buckets 1 havea bottom wall 7 which is concave to form a depression, or hollow 6, anda pair of side walls 8 and 9. The bottom wall-7 of the bucket 1 isformed with perforations 10. Perforations 10 permit air to pass tocastings (not shown) within bucket 1 to provide for cooling of castingsreceived straight from the foundry, and still quite hot. Perforations 10atthe bottom of the bucket permit sand and other particles adhering tothe castings, as received from the foundry, to fall therethrough. Theyare caught in a tray 12, preferably of sheet metal, secured to thebottomwall 7 of the bucket by suitable spacers l3 and holding brackets27. The front edge 5, that is the discharge of bucket 1 projects withrespect to the front edge 11 of tray 12. Thus, when castings are ejectedat a discharge station 22, the castings will slide out of bucket 1 at apoint different from the removal of sand from tray 12. Castings willslide out and can be removed over slide 24, whereas sand will falloverslide 25, angled with respect to slide 24.

The brackets 27 hold tray 12 and additionally interconnect the bucket lwith a rod 14 which extends over the entire width of the bucket, that isfrom one side wall 8 to the side wall 9. It is spaced from the lowerouter edge 15 of tray 12 by a predetermined distance. Side walls 8 and 9of the bucket are further provided with stops 16, 17, which, in thetransport position of bucket 1, lie against bail 4. Each one of the sidewalls 8, 9, is connected to stub shaft 18, 19. Stub shafts 18, 19 arejournalled in bearings 20, 21 formed in bail 4.

The discharge position of bucket l at, and with respect to a dischargestation 22 can be seen by referring to the chain dotted outline inFIG. 1. Each one of the discharge stations has an operating element 23thereat to swing or rock bucket 1, as well as the aforementioned, angledslides 24, 25, for the castings and sand respectively.

Operating arm 23 is secured to an operating track 26, and connected, bymeans known in the art and not shown, with a hydraulic or pneumaticallyoperating cylinder. Upon operation of the cylinder, the track 26 islowered or raised, for example over a circular path, to tip the bucketfrom the solid line position into the chain dotted position of FIG. 1.Control of the arm 23,

or track 26, or both, can be obtained either manually,

or automatically, as desired.

The loading station for the transport system is not be removed fromslide 24 for further transport or working, as desired. After removal ofthe castings, the operating arm 23 and with it the track 26 returns thebucket into its full line position and loading of the buckets can berepeated. 2

Sand, still adhering to the castings upon being loaded can thus fallthrough the perforations so that the castings, upon unloading over theslide 24, will be substantially clean; additionally, the perforationsthrough wall 7 permit air circulation to increase the cooling rate andpresent castings to slide 24 at less temperature than previously.

The present invention has been described and illustrated in connectionwith a transport system for foundry castings; various changes andmodifications can be made within the inventive concept to adapt thetransport system to other uses.

I claim:

1. Transport system for hot castings having sand particles adheringthereto comprising an elevated track (3);

at least one transport bucket (I) having walls (7,8,9), at least one ofwhich is formed with perforations to permit air to circulate through thebucket and cool the contents thereof; means (2,4), swingably and movablysupporting the bucket from the track (3); and catch means (12) securedto the bottom wall of the bucket to travel therewith along the track,the catch means being located beneath the bottom wall of the bucket withclearance, to be spaced therefrom, to catch sand and the like from saidcastings by gravity as the bucket is transported along said track, whilepermitting air circulation past said catch means and through saidperforations; wherein said bucket (1) has a forward lip (5) over whichthe castings are adapted to fall upon tipping of said bucket; and saidcatch means (12) has a forward edge (11) which is recessed with respectto the forward lip (5) of the bucket. 2. System according to claim 1,wherein said catch means is a sheet metal tray 3. System according toclaim 1 in combination with a discharge station (22), located along saidtrack, said discharge station having an operating track means (26)adapted to engage a bucket, and extending substantially parallel to saidtrack (3), a pair of inclined slide surfaces (24, 25) inclined inrespective first and second directions, one of said inclined slidesurfaces (24) being aligned with the forward lip (5) of said bucket toreceive castings and guide the castings in a first direction and theother inclined surface (25) being aligned with the forward edge (11) ofsaid catch means to receive sand and the like from said catch means andguide the sand in the second direction.

4. System according to claim 3, wherein said inclined surfaces extend inopposite directions from each other and transverse to the direction ofthe track at the station, the inclined surfaces coming together to forman apex at a region beneath the bucket.

5. System according to claim 3 wherein said operating track means (26)engages and tips said bucket when said bucket is at said dischargestation, the extent of tilt of the bucket during tipping being set toplace said lip,(5) over one inclined surface (24) and the forinclinedsurface (25

1. Transport system for hot castings having sand particles adheringthereto comprising an elevated track (3); at least one transport bucket(1) haviNg walls (7,8,9), at least one of which is formed withperforations (10) to permit air to circulate through the bucket and coolthe contents thereof; means (2,4), swingably and movably supporting thebucket from the track (3); and catch means (12) secured to the bottomwall of the bucket to travel therewith along the track, the catch meansbeing located beneath the bottom wall of the bucket with clearance, tobe spaced therefrom, to catch sand and the like from said castings bygravity as the bucket is transported along said track, while permittingair circulation past said catch means and through said perforations;wherein said bucket (1) has a forward lip (5) over which the castingsare adapted to fall upon tipping of said bucket; and said catch means(12) has a forward edge (11) which is recessed with respect to theforward lip (5) of the bucket.
 2. System according to claim 1, whereinsaid catch means is a sheet metal tray.
 3. System according to claim 1in combination with a discharge station (22), located along said track,said discharge station having an operating track means (26) adapted toengage a bucket, and extending substantially parallel to said track (3),a pair of inclined slide surfaces (24, 25) inclined in respective firstand second directions, one of said inclined slide surfaces (24) beingaligned with the forward lip (5) of said bucket to receive castings andguide the castings in a first direction and the other inclined surface(25) being aligned with the forward edge (11) of said catch means toreceive sand and the like from said catch means and guide the sand inthe second direction.
 4. System according to claim 3, wherein saidinclined surfaces extend in opposite directions from each other andtransverse to the direction of the track at the station, the inclinedsurfaces coming together to form an apex at a region beneath the bucket.5. System according to claim 3 wherein said operating track means (26)engages and tips said bucket when said bucket is at said dischargestation, the extent of tilt of the bucket during tipping being set toplace said lip (5) over one inclined surface (24) and the forward edge(11) of said catch means over the other inclined surface (25).